New York may lose $73M in federal highway funds over flawed immigrant commercial driver's licenses

New York routinely issues licenses to immigrants that whitethorn beryllium valid agelong aft they are legally authorized to beryllium successful the country, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday and helium threatened to withhold $73 cardinal successful road funds unless the strategy is fixed.

New York is the latest authorities Duffy has targeted successful his effort to marque definite motortruck and autobus drivers are qualified to get licenses that helium launched aft a motortruck operator who was not authorized to beryllium successful the U.S. made an amerciable U-turn and caused a clang successful Florida that killed 3 people. The Transportation Department has said it is auditing these non-domiciled licenses nationwide, but truthful acold the lone states helium has threatened to authorisation are each led by Democratic governors.

Duffy said national investigators recovered that much than fractional of the 200 licenses they reviewed successful New York were issued improperly with galore of them defaulting to beryllium valid for 8 years careless of erstwhile an immigrant's enactment licence expires. And helium said the authorities couldn't beryllium it had verified these drivers' migration presumption for the 32,000 progressive non-domiciled commercialized licenses it has issued.

“When much than fractional of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t conscionable a mistake — it is simply a dereliction of work by authorities leadership. Gov. (Kathy) Hochul indispensable instantly revoke these illegally issued licenses,” Duffy said.

New York has 30 days to respond to these concerns. Hochul’s bureau did not instantly remark Friday.

Immigrants relationship for astir 20% of each motortruck drivers, but these non-domiciled licenses lone correspond astir 5% of each commercialized driver's licenses. The Transportation Department besides projected caller restrictions that would severely bounds which noncitizens could get a licence but a tribunal enactment the caller rules connected hold.

Duffy has threatened to withhold millions from California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota aft the audits recovered important problems nether the existing rules similar commercialized licenses being valid agelong aft an migrant motortruck driver’s enactment licence expired. That unit prompted California to revoke 17,000 licenses.